Flyboy - Poe Dameron
by FantasyandHistory
Summary: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... While Kylo Ren represents the dark side and Rey represents the balance between light and dark, who represents the light? (Full summary inside!) (Poe DameronXOC)
1. Prologue - Just a Bunch of Gossip

Hello and welcome to 'Flyboy' based on the new 'Star Wars' trilogy! I'm still a pretty new 'Star Wars' fan, so I may not get all of the facts and terminology exactly right! Feel free to correct me though!

Full Summary:

 **A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...**

 **While Kylo Ren represents the dark side and Rey represents the balance between light and dark, who represents the light?**

 **Livia 'Via' Solo is the adopted daughter of Leia Organa and Han Solo, adopted sister to Ben Solo, now Kylo Ren. Although weak in the Force unlike her brother, she also trained under Uncle Luke Skywalker until her brother's devastating betrayal. Returning to her mother who is skillfully leading the Resistance, Via tinkers away, helping in any way she can. Along the way she meets a charming X-Wing pilot and will discover that hope and love can be the brightest light in the darkness.**

I do not own 'Star Wars' or any of the characters! Only Via and her storyline :) thanks and I hope you enjoy!

* * *

Prologue - Just a Bunch of Gossip

Via sat with Paige, Lieutenant Connix, and Tallie. Paige's younger sister, Rose, the shyer one of the group, sat off to the side.

"Can we talk about something other than the war?" Via had requested. The others gladly agreed.

"Hey Via, I heard that the new guy likes you," stated Connix. Via shot her friend a look. "What? You wanted a topic other than war, so I gave you one."

"Which new guy?" clarified Paige.

"Poe Dameron."

"Oooo! The new pilot! He's cute," grinned Tallie, a pilot herself. "I could help you with that!"

"It's just a bunch of gossip." Via rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. And blushing, her friends were quick to notice.

"Well I heard it."

"So did I."

"Me too! And General Organa even thinks so," added Connix. "She seems to have a soft spot for Poe."

"I heard it too! From lots of people." The others turned to Rose, who had suddenly piped up. She blushed. "What? Sound travels well through the pipes, I've learned." This made the others laugh.

"Okay, yes, I admit, Dameron is very charming. And handsome. And sweet-"

"And not to mention he has that adorable droid," reminded Tallie. "What's his name again?"

"BB-8. But he's also cocky and reckless, or can be."

"Who, the droid?" joked Paige.

"No silly! Poe!"

Paige just winked. "What is it you call him?"

Via smirked. "Flyboy."

"How did you two meet again?"

"Oh yeah, tell us!" urged Tallie. "It's a good story."

Via rolled her eyes but obliged and launched into the story for her friends.

Via had been wandering around the base a few days after the new pilot's arrival. She hadn't known his little droid was rolling down the hall and had unknowingly stepped out in his path - only to moments later be knocked from her feet, her legs literally knocked out from beneath her. She had fallen hard to the ground in the middle of the hall with a surprised cry.

BB-8 had, of course, been mortified, and had rolled right back over to her and had begun beeping apologetically, spinning around her checking to make sure she was alright.

"BB-8? Where are you, buddy?" Poe had then come around the corner moments later in search of the droid. "There you are! Hey, what happened?" He came over just as Via was getting back to her feet. BB-8 beeped in response. "You tripped her?"

"It was an accident," Via explained. "I'm fine, little guy, really."

The little droid gave a beep that sounded a lot like a relieved sigh, making her chuckle.

"Hey, sorry about that," the man chuckled, slightly awkardly.

"No problem, really."

He then pointed at her as if in recognition. "Did I hear that you're the general's daughter?"

"Yes, you heard correctly."

"Ah, so the great daughter of General Leia Organa and Han Solo, and my droid runs her over."

She chuckled. "Well I don't know about 'great' but I am their daughter, adopted daughter. I'm Via."

He swept a curl of dark hair out of his eyes before firmly shaking her extended hand. "A pleasure, Via. Poe Dameron, pilot extraordinaire."

She chuckled at his cockiness. He was obviously flirting. "Okay, Flyboy."

"Hey, 'Flyboy', I like it!" He winked. "So Via, what do you do around here?"

She gave a little shrug. "A mix of things. Whatever needs to be done - computer maintenance, machine repairs, mapping, medical help..."

"Very nice, a woman of many talents I can tell." He winked again.

Yup, definitely flirting. Normally, Via would be weary of this, careful, but here she felt he was being genuine. "I've never thought about it that way before."

"Well now you have! Tell me, Via, do you like planes?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Well I guess with the famous Han Solo as a father you'd have to! Maybe once I'm all settled I can show you my X-Wing - she's a real beauty."

"Sure, I'd like that."

"So you already have a date with him?" Connix grinned when Via finished with her story.

"It's not a date-"

"He wants to show you his prized plane! Do you know how proud of it he is?" said Tallie. "Has he asked you yet?"

"Not yet, he hasn't mentioned it again. He probably forgot."

"Yeah right! He wouldn't just forget!"

"He's been busy settling in."

"You should go remind him," said Paige.

"Why?"

"Well you want to, don't you."

"Yeah, but..."

"Oh come on, Via. This is exciting! We don't get excitement like this very much - take it!"

She saw their point - the only real excitement they got was not the good sort: First Order attacks, captures, that sort. Not really exciting at all.

So she took the chance.

"What's your dad going to say about you dating a pilot?" Poe asked following their first kiss a few months later.

She chuckled. "I don't think he'll be too happy about me dating anyone, but the pilot thing will definitely help, or at least so I hope."

"Well, at least we have your mother's approval."

"Yes, at least we have that. See you later - Flyboy."

 _I hope you enjoyed so far, thank you so much for reading - let me know what you think so far! Thanks! :)_


	2. 1 - Interrogation

1 - Interrogation

The brother and the boyfriend, staring each other down. However, Poe knew that this was not about his relationship with Via, and whether or not her brother approved. He guessed that Ren would probably not. That was, if he even knew, but Poe guessed he did. Kylo Ren was a smart man, and powerful.

"I had no idea we had the best pilot in the Resistance on board." Ren strode forward. His voice was altered by his mask. "Comfortable?"

Poe tried to shift in the brace he was strapped into, but to no avail. He was quite trapped. "Not really..."

"I'm impressed. No one has been able to get out of you what you did with the map."

"You might want to rethink your technique," Poe said with an encouraging confidence that Via would have scolded him for. He could just hear her scolding him: _Poe, that cockiness of yours is only going to get you into more trouble!_ _Even killed one day! Please think before you speak!_

Too late.

"Oh, I already have."

With a wave of his gloved hand, Ren plunged Poe into a blackout. When he came to again, however much time had passed, he found that the Knight of Ren had gone, but he wasn't alone.

No, oh no, no, no...

How had she gotten here?

Ren must have seen glimpses of her in Poe's mind and knew what would cause him to snap. But Ren wouldn't harm his own sister, would he?

"Vi?" Poe whispered. She looked terrible, dirty, sweaty, and bloody like himself. She was locked in an identical contraption to the one he was in, across the cell from him, just out of reach. "Vi!"

She groaned faintly and her eyes flickered open. "P-Poe?" she said so softly he almost couldn't hear.

"Yes, yes Vi, I'm here. It's going to be okay, I promise-"

"How sweet." The deep, muffled voice returned as Kylo Ren once again emerged from the shadows, his long cloak swishing as he walked.

Via's gaze immediately went to him. "B-Ben?"

"Don't call me that!" He raised his hand and her head smacked back against the brace.

"Is she really here, or are you just playing with my mind?" Poe demanded.

"Maybe. Maybe not. Either way I don't think you would wish to see her harmed." Ren merely looked her way and almost instantly her brow furrowed and her jaw tightened as a no doubt unbearable pain shot through her head. She struggled against it, but her screams soon filled the cell.

"No, no please no-" Poe's pleas were no use. "Fight back, Vi!"

"I-I can't!"

"No, you can't," confirmed Ren. "Because you're too weak."

"The Resistance... Will not... Be... Intimidated... By you..." Poe managed to choke out. A burning pain had begun to settle in his head as well.

"Ben, Ben please," Via begged between screams, fighting to force out the words. Even if she was a projection, she was so real. Poe was sure he could reach out for her hand and hold it. Tears were now streaming down her face. "Please - I'm your sister. I-I love you."

"You are _not_ my sister." With that he raised his hand and squeezed it into a tight fist, once again causing her head to slam back against the brace. She gave a blood-curdling scream.

This was met by a scream from Poe, who passed out again soon after. When he awoke again, barely conscious, she was gone. She had never really been there.

Kylo Ren emerged victoriously from the holding chamber. "I have the location of the map," he declared proudly to Hux, still trying to drown out his sister's screams from where they lingered in the back of his mind.

After leaving the General and the Stormtroopers, Ren paused in the hall, leaning against the wall. Despite her only being an image cast by his power, it had felt very real, almost as real as it had felt for the prisoner.

Almost too real for him.

 _So there's the first chapter - it's not very long, but I hope you enjoyed :) Thank you so much for reading!_


	3. 2 - In Over Our Heads

2 - In Over Our Heads

"Yikes, the programming is all off on this one. No wonder it won't fly properly-" Kes scribbled down some notes on the pad of paper in her hands. "Looks like we're going to have to wipe all the programming and start over."

The droid assisting her, CC-3, gave what sounded a lot like a sigh.

"I know, it'll be a big job, but if we don't, this plane won't be safe to fly. And we need all of our available ships ready for action." Kes slid herself onto her back beneath the plane, quickly realizing she did not have the proper tools at hand. One quick glance told her that the desired toolkit was all the way on the opposite side of the hangar, of course. She considered sliding back out from underneath the plane to go retrieve it, but then got another idea...

Might as well try.

Eyes closed, she held out her hand and concentrated, reaching with her mind. She could clearly hear Master Luke's voice telling her to calm her mind and concentrate on what she wished to achieve.

Well, she did all that, but, as usual, she was unsuccessful. During those training sessions she wondered if she would ever be able to properly conjure the Force.

Uncle Luke always reminded her that she could conjure the Force already, she just had to work on maintaining and controlling that. This was the most difficult part. And there was no one proper way to do so, as everyone had their own unique way of doing so.

Ben used to assure her too, strong in the Force himself, right from the beginning, helping her as she stumbled along. He had always been there to listen to her concerns and reassure her.

The tool she had been after, a wrench, flew from the tool box but instead of into her hand, as planned, it sailed across the room, striking the wall of the hangar with a loud _CLANG!_

CC-3 narrowly missed getting hit, and beeped in protest.

Kes winced and peeked out sheepishly from under the ship. "Sorry..."

CC continued to beep, in a way that sounded like he was scolding her.

"Sorry CC-3. I swear it was an accident. Would you mind getting that for me?" she asked the little square droid who was now sorting through spare parts, still grumbling.

The droid seemed to mutter something, probably about how she had startled him, but did as asked and retrieved the wrench. He approached the tool almost cautiously, as though he feared it flying around again and really striking him this time. Oops.

"Thanks." Kes took the tool and got to work on fixing the ship. CC continued to mutter as he went away.

She wasn't working for long before hurried footsteps signaled someone's arrival in the hangar. Peeking out from beneath the ship again she saw that it was Tallie.

"Kes!" the pilot cried. "Poe's back."

CC-3 chirped excitedly.

"Oh good!" There hadn't been any word from him in a while.

"It's not all good, I'm afraid," said Tallie. In her excitement of hearing about Poe, Kes hadn't noticed Tallie's obvious concern. "He was captured and tortured by the First Order."

Kes said nothing, just rushed from the room and to the medical wing.

There she found a very disheveled Poe, his hair messy, the side of his head bloody, and covered in dirt.

"Poe!"

"Kes!"

She threw herself at him, wrapping him up in a hug. "What happened? You look awful."

"Aw, come on, I'm still my handsome self."

"Shut up, Poe. You're seriously injured!" She turned to the medic. "May I?"

She nodded, and Kes took over cleaning Poe up while the medics left, giving the couple some time and space.

"What happened?" she demanded.

Poe told her of retrieving the piece of map that would supposedly lead to Uncle Luke, and how the First Order had attacked, capturing Poe and slaughtering the village.

"Where's BB-8?"

"I don't know, I'm really worried. We can only hope he got away, and with the map. I don't like the idea of that little guy out in the galaxy all alone, all while they're looking for him..." Poe shuddered. "He was there."

"Who? Ben?"

Poe nodded.

Kes's stomach dropped. " _He_ did this to you?!"

"He's incredibly strong in the Force."

"He always was."

"Yeah, but now he's cruel, and clever..."

She touched his cheek, no longer bloody, but baring a dark bruise. "I'm so sorry this happened to you-"

"Don't apologize for what he's done," he assured her.

"He probably didn't, but did he mention us at all? Mum, Dad or I?"

"No, but he made it seem like you were there. It was so real, so real. I thought you were really there, I-" He cut himself off, wrapping an arm protectively around her and drawing her close.

"How did you escape?"

"A Stormtrooper helped me."

"You're kidding."

"Naw, this guy knew what he wanted to do. Finn was his name. He escaped with us - I'm not sure what happened to him either..."

"It's not your fault," she assured him. "Well, we owe him. I'm just glad you're home."

He nodded. "Me too."

Leaving Poe to rest, Kes walked back to the control room where she found Leia.

"He did this," she said in a voice just above a whisper. "Ben."

Leia remained silent, but nodded, and reached out to place her hand over Kes's. "I know."

 _Hello everyone! I know it's been forever since I've added to this story, but the 'Rise of Skywalker' was getting me all excited and inspired! ;) (still haven't seen it yet, so no spoilers please!)_

 _Yes, I decided to change my OC's name (I'll have to go back and make those changes). And yes, CC-3 is a droid of my own invention!_

 _Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)_


	4. 3 - Resistance Reunion

3\. Resistance Reunion

"Dad!" There was a flash of red hair as Kess all but leapt off the ship and into her father's arms.

"Hey, there's my girl! How're you doing, kiddo?"

"Well thanks. Good to see you! Hey Chewie!" She also hugged the Wookie who gave a gentle roar in greeting. "How's it going, Fuzzball?"

" _Waaaaaaa_!" replied Chewie.

"What? I didn't teach her that." Han winked.

Chewie shook his head and grumbled.

"Your mother's keeping you busy?" She nodded. "And how about that pilot guy? What's the deal with him?"

"Oh, Poe. Yeah, no, things are, things are good, yeah. Really good." She smiled warmly.

Han gave her a look. "Good? Good how? How good?"

"Really good. We're together now, officially."

"W-wait now, wait a minute. Don't you think that's a little soon?" Han placed his hands on his hips.

"Or maybe you've just been gone longer than you thought."

Han opened his mouth to respond, but then closed it again as her words sunk in. Beside him, Chewie muttered something, something which sounded very much along the lines of agreement with Kes.

"He's right, you've got to be wary of those pilots." All three turned to see that Leia had emerged from the ship. "But I like Poe. I trust him with my fleet, and with my daughter." She smiled. "Speaking of which, go greet your pilot, Kess. Your father and I need a moment."

Kess and Chewie exchanged a glance before she rushed off. Leia and Han now stood staring at each other.

"Goodness!" Suddenly, C-3PO stepped between them. "It's Han Solo! It is I, C-3PO. You probably didn't recognize me because of my new arm-" He proudly held up his new red arm, standing out against his gold body. He spun around to face Leia. "General, look who it is!" Leia gave him a look. "Oh - oh, uh, right, excuse me Princess - uh, General, I mean." With that, he wandered off, muttering to himself.

The ship carried them back to the Resistance base where all the fighter pilots were returning.

As she was wandering around the tarmac, Kess heard a familiar beeping. "B-B? B-B8?"

" _Beeee_ _eeeeee_ _ep_!" With an excited chirping, the sweet little round droid was circling around her. Laughing, she knelt down to greet him. "Hey buddy! I missed you too, you look great! Not too bad for a droid who's been on the run - looks like you were well taken care of. I bet you're eager to see Poe, I am too. Let's go."

She searched the many pilots until she saw the familiar head of tousled dark curls that belonged to her Poe.

"Hey!" He picked her up and spun her around in a near-crushing hug.

"Hey Flyboy!"

"BEEEEEEP!"

"B-B8 my buddy!" Poe knelt down to greet his droid. "Wait, wait slow down - Finn saved you? He's alive?! Is he here?" Poe chuckled and shook his head. "I knew I liked that guy! Come on Kess, there's someone I want you to meet-" Taking her hand, he led her over to a young man who was looking around at everything in awe, and wearing Poe's leather jacket. "Finn!"

"Poe? Poe Dameron, you're alive?!" The two ran to each other and hugged.

"Finn, I would like you to meet Kess Solo, the love of my life." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Oh, you're so dramatic." She rolled her eyes and patted him on the chest. "So you're the Storm Trooper that saved Poe's life? Thank you." She hugged him too.

"Come on," said Poe, gesturing for them both to follow him. "We need to find the General."

They found Leia in discussion with some other rebels.

"General Organa, sorry to interrupt, but this is Finn, he needs to talk to you."

"And I need to talk to him-" While Leia and Finn began talking, Kess caught her dad eyeing Poe.

"Dad, you remember Poe?"

"Uh huh..."

"Mr. Solo, a pleasure." Poe held out his hand for Han to shake. He did reluctantly, eyeing the young man. Chewie chirped, BB-8 beeping back.

"I see you guys have met," said Via, patting the droid's side. She received another chirp and beep in response, making her chuckle. It was too adorable to see tiny B-B8 staring up at the towering figure of Chewie. "I'll be right back - I left Poe with my dad."

* * *

"I've got to say goodbye to my favourite pilot," Kess said while saying farewell to Poe yet again. He had just returned only to be going off on another mission already. But that was their life.

"I thought I was your favourite pilot." The two turned to see Han standing there, watching them, arms crossed.

"Dad, you will always be my favourite pilot. Poe just comes in very close now."

"Uh huh."

The couple shared one last quick kiss. "Be careful out there, Flyboy," Kess called.

"I will. Always am."

"Right. You too, B-B." Kess knelt down and also gave the droid a kiss on his head. He gave a long beep, one which sounded an awful lot like an, 'Awwwwwwww!"

"Yeah, get lost kid," ordered Han.

Poe gave her a salute before running off to his X-Wing, B-B8 right at his heels.

"See you later, Kiddo." Han turned to his daughter.

"Should I tell you to be careful out there too?"

"Naw."

She chuckled. Then she turned serious. "Dad, if you see Kylo Ren - tell him I miss my brother."

He nodded. "Yeah, yeah sure thing, Kiddo. Work hard, but not too hard. See you when we're back."

 _I'm pretty sure all the 'Star Wars' movies are now on Disney+ which is super helpful for this story! ;)_

 _So since changing my character's name, I've realized that 'Kes' is actually the name of Poe's father - oops! No wonder I thought it sounded like a 'Star Wars' name! ;) But I don't think we ever hear about Poe's father in the movies themselves, so I think it's okay for this story!_

 _Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)_


	5. 4- Dreadnought

4\. Dreadnought

 _"Happy beeps here buddy, come on."_ Poe's voice could be heard over the radio. _"We've pulled crazier stunts than this. Much crazier."_

"I beg to differ," muttered Kess.

"Just for the record, Commander Dameron, I'm with the droid on this one," said Leia.

 _"Thank you, for your support, General,_ " Poe said sarcastically. "As always."

"Me too," added Kess.

" _Love you too, Kess."_

From the Resistance ship, Kess and Leia could hear everything going on from Poe's end of the radio, which proved both good and bad.

 _"Time to take out the cannons,"_ Poe announced. Blasts could be heard from his end. _"Only one cannon left!"_ He reported. _"Oh - and here comes the parade..."_

"Please be careful," whispered Kess.

"The last transport's in the air. The evacuation is complete," Connix reported.

Leia clasped Kess's hand and the two shared a relieved smile.

"You did it, Poe," cried Kess.

"Now get your squad back here so we can get out of here," ordered Leia.

His next words sent that short-lived relief fleeing quick. _"No General! We can do this! We have the chance to take out a Dreadnought! These things are fleet killers, we can't let this one get away-"_ He was cut off by a series of blasts.

Leia and Kess now shared an alarmed look where just seconds ago it had been relief. "Disengage now," ordered Leia, suddenly serious. "You've completed your mission."

"Poe, get out of there!" cried Kess, without her mother's calmness. _While you still can_ , she didn't need to add. This was only met by more blasts.

"Commander, that is an order-"

Suddenly, the line went dead - Poe had cut them off.

"Did he just?" said Kess, utterly shocked.

"Yes, he did," confirmed Leia with a sigh.

"Poe? Poe?" Kess cursed and hit the table surface. "I'll kill him."

"You may not get the chance," sighed Leia. "Wipe that nervous expression off your face, 3P0. Right now."

"Oh!" cried the gold droid. "Well I can certainly try, General!"

* * *

 _Smack!_

Leia struck the disobedient Poe across the face pretty much as soon as he arrived back to the main ship. "You're demoted."

"What?! What for?" cried Poe.

"What for? Really Poe?"

"What, wait - we took down a Dreadnought."

"At what cost?"

"You start an attack, you follow it through."

"Poe, get your head out of your cockpit. There are some things you can't solve by jumping in an X-wing and blowing something up!"

"Thank you." The two turned to see Kess standing there, arms crossed and not looking at all happy.

"Kess, listen-"

"No, _you_ listen, Flyboy!" She poked him in the chest accusingly. "You never think about the consequences of your actions! Cockiness and recklessness isn't going to win the war. This is already dangerous enough without you being so reckless all the time and purposefully putting yourself and others in danger!"

"But we took down a Dreadnought!"

"UGH! You just don't get it do you?"

"Oh, what, and you do? You wouldn't understand-" Poe caught himself too late.

She tried not to look hurt, but she clearly was. "Right, I don't understand because I'm useless to the Resistance. The one who has no real job, no real skill, and is just here, tinkering away. And who is useless in the Force-"

 _Pop!_ They jumped when a thin pipe along the wall next to them burst.

"Oh great-" She began muttering, taking a tool from her utility belt and beginning to work on the pipe. "Useless in the Force except for having it mess things up." She twisted the piece of pipe back into place. With that fixed, she stalked off.

"Kess, come on, wait! Kess!"

"Ah, young love." Leia shook her head as she watched her daughter storm off, Poe running to catch up.

"Oh dear," sighed C-3pO.

* * *

"I don't want to talk to him right now, B-B," Kess said. The droid was rolling at her heels beeping away, trying desperately to get her to talk to Poe, but to no avail. "He needs to understand that his actions are reckless and have consequences." Like the cost of their relationship, or his life.

 _Beep! Beep! BEEEEEEEEPPPPPP!_

But it wasn't just that Poe wanted to talk to her - there was trouble from the control room. Kess wasted no time in rushing back there, B-B8 right at her heels.

"They've found us," called an officer.

"That's impossible." Poe went to look at the screen. "That's Snoke's ship, you've got to be kidding me." He cursed.

"Ben," whispered Kess.

Poe rushed over to Leia. "Permission to jump in an X-wing and blow something up?"

"Permission granted."

"Poe - no wait!" Kess could sense something - Ben was out there, and he was planning something. "Poe - stop!"

 _BLAST!_

The ground shook so much it threw them off their feet. The blast had struck the hangar, taking down many Resistance ships and pilots and mechanics with it.

"Tallie!" Tallie, the fleet, Poe's X-Wing. It was all gone. How many friends were they going to lose?

Leia!

"Mom!" Kess could sense something, just as she could with Han's death, when his own son had killed him.

They got to Leia just in time - she had been caught up in the blast itself - rushing her off to the medical wing.

Poe came to find Kess. "You okay?"

"Okay, yeah. You."

"Yeah." He sat beside her with a sigh. "He took out our leader." All she could do was nod. "He went after your dad, now your mom - he'll probably come for you next."

"Yeah, that's what I think too. Then I'd better be ready."

 _Jumping right on ahead into 'The Last Jedi'! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)_


	6. 5 - Master Code-breaker

5\. Master Code-breaker

"Rose-" Kess headed down to the lower floor of the ship. Although she had been closer to the other Tico sister, she still knew Rose and wanted to offer some comfort in her time of loss. She too had lost a sibling, and while the contexts were completely different, she hoped to offer some help.

She found Rose with Finn.

"Kess!" cried Finn when he saw her. "You'll never believe it: we have a plan!" He was giddy with excitement. She could only stare back in shock.

"Just give it to me one more time, simpler." A very excited Finn and Rose had come searching for Poe, and now the group, including C-3P0 and BB-8 sat in the medical wing. Finn and Rose were explaining their plan.

"And slower," requested Kess.

"Okay, so, the First Order's only tracking us from one Destroyer, the lead one," Finn explained.

"Snoke's Destroyer?"

"Yeah."

"So we blow it up," said Poe.

Kess scoffed and shook her head.

"I like where your head's at, but no," Finn continued. "They'd only start tracking us from another one. But, if we sneak on board and disable the tracker without them realizing, then we can-"

"-They won't realize it's off for one system cycle," jumped in Rose. "Which is about six minutes."

"So we one, sneak on board. Two, disable the tracker. Three, our fleet escapes before they realize."

"That's it?" asked Poe.

"That's it!"

"Hmm." Poe nodded, looking distant. Then he went over to where Kess was sitting next to the still-unconscious Leia. "How'd you two meet?"

"Just luck," answered Rose.

"Yeah? Good luck?"

"Not sure yet."

"We gotta do this, Poe," insisted Finn. "It'll save the fleet, and save Rey."

"If I must be the sole voice of reason," broke in C-3P0. "Admiral Holdo will never agree to this plan."

"Yeah, you're right 3P0," said Poe.

"Well thank you, Captain Dameron-"

"It's a need-to-know plan, and she doesn't."

"Oh, well that wasn't exactly my point-"

But Poe was already jumping into action. "Finn, Rose, you guys shut off that tracker, and I'll be here to jump us to lightspeed. The question is, how do we sneak you guys onto Snoke's Destroyer?"

"Steal clearance codes?" suggested Kess.

"No, they're bio-hexacrypt and re-scrambled every hour," stated Finn. "It'd be a two-person job, one to cut the shields, while the other disables the tracker, all at the same time. But we can't get through their security shields undetected. No one can, not with that kind of security."

"You need a code-breaker," said Kess thoughtfully. Eyes fell on her. "Oh, no, no, no, that's not what I meant-"

"Kess, you've gotta do it," said Poe.

"Just because I'm good with codes and numbers doesn't mean I'm a code-breaker, and certainly not the kind we need."

"You're better than nothing." She gave him a look. "What? It's a compliment."

"I can't, I'm not that good, there's too much at stake-" She paused, realization flickering in her eyes. "But I think I know someone who could."

" _Could I do it? Yes, of course I could do it!_ " Minutes later they had connected with Maz Katana via communication device. Maz's words were followed by a series of blasts. _"But I can't do it - I'm a little tied down right now!"_ Another blast.

"Maz? What's happening?" asked Finn.

" _Union dispute, trust me, you do not want to hear about it. But, lucky for you, there's exactly one guy I trust who can crack that kind of security._ " _Blast blast! "He's a master code-breaker."_

"Perfect," said Kess.

 _"Yes, a master code-breaker,_ _an ace pilot, a poet with a blaster..._ "

"Oh my!" exclaimed C-3P0. "It sounds like this code-breaker fellow can do everything!"

"Oh yes," said Maz dreamily. "He can."

"Sounds like quite the guy," added Kess with a grin, eyebrows raised. Poe rolled his eyes.

 _"You'll find him with a red plom bloom on his lapel rolling at a high stakes table in the casino on Canto Bight."_

"Red plom bloom, got it," said Kess.

"Canto Bight?" sighed Poe. "No, no that's not going to work. Maz, is there any way we can take care of this ourselves?"

" _Sorry, Kiddo, but this is rarefied cracking. You want to get on that Destroyer? I can only offer one option: find the Master Code-breaker - oh and send him my best wishes!_ " And with that, she was gone and their communication link was gone with her.

It was settled then: Rose, Finn, Kess, and BB-8 would go to Canto Bight in search of Maz's Master Code-breaker.

"Hey, quit worrying, you'll do great." Poe told Kess while they were saying goodbye. He could read her so well.

"Thanks for your confidence, but this is a one-chance job. I'm just not sure if I can do it in time."

"You can. I know you can."

"Thanks."

"You take good care of my girl and my droid, you hear?" called Poe to Rose and Finn.

Kess rolled her eyes. "This feels strange. Usually it's me saying goodbye to you while you head off on a mission, now it's the other way around."

"Yeah. It's not any easier from this side."

"No, it's not." She glanced back at Leia. "Take care of her."

"You know I will."

"Yeah, I know. And please, stay out of trouble."

"Do you know me at all?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Don't quarrel with Admiral Holdo - too much."

"Might have to do a bit of that."

"Right." She gave him one last hug. "See you later, Flyboy." She pecked his lips, joined the others, and was gone.

 _Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)_


	7. 6 - Cell Mates

6\. Cell Mates

Their mission was not off to a good start. Within less than an hour of arriving on Canto Bight, the group was captured and thrown in the high-surveillance prison system.

"Guys, the fleet is running on fumes," Rose updated. "Without a code-breaker to break us in, and soon, they're going to run out."

Finn stood leaning against one of the bunks, head down, deep in thought. Kess was studying the intricate lock on the door. Kneeling down some so that she was eye-level with the lock, she reached up and fished a pin from her hair. "Do you know how many pins it takes to keep hair this intricate in place?"

"How many?" asked Finn.

"A lot." She bent the pin and inserted it into the lock. She could thank Leia and her own intricate hairstyles when they returned to the fleet.

After a few minutes of attempting to pick the lock with no success, she gave the stubborn, strictly-sealed door a hard smack, to which it rang in protest, and returned the pin to her hair.

"Now what do we do?" sighed Rose, voicing the trio's exact thoughts.

"Well, unless you've got a thief in your pocket, our plan is shot." With a huff, Finn went and sat down heavily upon the bottom bunk across from them.

"I can do it."

"Ah!" Finn shot off the bed and back over to the other side of the cell with the ladies, when a voice spoke beneath him - there had been someone lying on the cot and he had sat right on top of them.

"What?" questioned Rose.

"What?" the voice replied jokingly.

"What?" she repeated.

There was a chuckle and a man wearing dark, dirty, torn clothes rose to a seated position. "Sorry, it's just that I couldn't help but overhear what you were saying really loudly while I was trying to sleep." He was un-shaven and had large bags beneath his dark eyes, and his equally dark hair stuck up at odd angles.

"We weren't aware that there was someone else in here," stated Kess. "Sorry for waking you."

"And I wasn't aware I was being given a cell mate, let alone three." The man rubbed his eyes. "Code-breaker? Thief? I can do it."

"Thanks, but we're not talking about picking pockets, okay?" Finn turned away.

The man gave another low chuckle. "D-d-don't let the wrapper fool you, friend. Me and First Order codeage go way back. And, if the price is right, I can break you into old man Snoke's b-b-boudoir." He spoke with a distinct stutter. He pulled a small square of metal from his boots, which he wasn't wearing, and instead had the laces tied together and them hanging over his shoulders. He bit down on the corner of the metal, bending it slightly.

The trio exchanged a glance. "We've got it covered," Rose said.

He just shrugged and strode over to the gate. He merely reached through the bars, inserted the metal into the lock, and with an almost cheerful beep the door swung open. He turned back to them to give them a farewell wave before striding out into the hall.

"Did he just?" began Finn.

"Yeah!" The three took off after him.

They didn't get far, however, before they heard the approach of the guards.

"Split up!" cried Kess, she running one way down the curved hall while Finn and Rose went the other direction.

Rounding the corner up ahead, Kess skidded to a stop. In front of her, guards were tied up and gagged, an armed BB-8 watching over them. Their cell mate stood there, eyeing the scene.

"BB-8!" she cried. He chirped in greeting.

"D-did you do this?" questioned the man.

BB gave a warning beep and approached him.

"No, no, he's a friend - I think," cried Kess.

"Freeze!"

The three turned to see more armed guards ahead. "Hands up!"

"Yeah man," said the thief, his hands already raised in the air.

Before anyone could react, BB-8 rolled over to the guards, and began firing - coins? The thief finished off the last guard by hitting him over the head with his boots. Then he promptly dropped to his hands and knees and began scooping up the coins. "What's your story, roundie?"

"Very resourceful, both of you." Kess nodded, impressed.

With the guards down, she retrieved their weapons: her and Finn's blasters and Rose's taser.

"How did you do that? With the door?" she asked the thief who was now counting coins.

"J-just an old t-trick."

"Well, nice trick."

"Th-thanks. Runs in the family."

The hall had doorways throughout, a step at the base of each door to step over. Poor BB-8 got trapped when he couldn't leap over the step like Kess and the thief.

Kess picked up the droid, holding him around the middle and carrying him with them.

The last door was sealed shut - until it slid open and revealed more guards, blasters at the ready.

BB-8 promptly zapped them and they crumbled to the ground. "Nicely done. Very nice," Kess told him. "You're really our hero tonight."

He gave a beep which sounded a lot like, "Aww, thank you!"

* * *

Kess, BB-8, and the thief - who told them to call him DJ - made it to the hangar where they stole a ship. They managed to track down Finn and Rose who had made it all the way to the beach. There they landed the ship.

"Ah!" DJ walked down the spiral steps of the ship. "N-n-need a lift?"

 _I love BB-8! ;)_

 _Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)_


	8. 7 - In Plain Sight

7\. In Plain Sight

"Now we just need to get onto the ship and crack the code."

"Yeah, about that..." The three whirled around to face D.J.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Guys, I can do it," he insisted. "But there exists a pre-doing conversation about price before I do."

"Once we're done the Resistance will give you whatever you want," promised Rose.

"Is that Haysian S-Smelt?" He pointed to Rose's medallion, the one matching the one her sister had. Her hand reached up to grasp it tightly. "Now that's something." He gave a shrug as if it were simple.

"No," Finn began to protest.

Something flew in front of D.J.'s face, nearly hitting him. He caught it - Rose's medallion.

"Do it." She appeared close to tears, and spun her chair back around to face the controls.

He held it up. "Now I can help." With that, he got up and left the cockpit.

Kess and Finn exchanged a glance before both following him, BB-8 coming along as well.

"Give it back," ordered Finn, but D.J. was too distracted rifling through the ship's money supply. "Give. It. Back. You have no idea how much that medallion means to her."

"Here, take this instead." Kess took the chain from around her neck and held it out to him.

He eyed it. "Is that rare amber?" He nodded to the small orange bulb on the end of the chain.

"Yeah. It'll go with your ring." She nodded to the large amber ring on his left hand.

"That's q-q-quite a token..." He admired it. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I don't know where it came from, I've just always had it."

"Hmm." He sat back, fiddling with Rose's medallion that now hung around his neck. "Don't act so quickly. A token like that is surely something special, like a family heirloom."

"Well I doubt they would have cared enough to leave me with it."

"H-h-how do you mean?"

"They abandoned me, my family. I don't remember them, I was just a baby. But at least they left me with a family who took me in and loved me, raised me as their own, so I suppose I owe them that much, my real family."

"Hmmm..." He regarded her. Then he said, "No deal." With that, he turned back to the gold coins, taking a fistful and dropping them into his coat pocket so that they rattled when he walked.

"Why are you ransacking your own ship?" demanded Finn. Then he realized. "It's not your ship."

 _Beep beep!_ chirped BB-8.

"He says you stole it," said Kess.

" _We_ stole it," said D.J.

The droid gave a beep in protest that sounded a lot like, "We?!"

Finn sighed. "This may have been a bad idea."

"Agreed," said Kess. "But we're committed now. No turning back." They turned to leave.

"Uh, uh, don't f-forget your necklace." D.J. held out her chain to her.

"Keep it. I don't care."

* * *

"Rose, Kess, how's it going?" Finn asked, he and D.J. already dressed in First Order uniforms.

Rose stepped out from behind the wall she and Kess had been changing behind, Kess following, trying to fold her hair beneath the cap. "This uniform is much to big," she mumbled. She'd had to roll the pant legs up a lot, but luckily those could be tucked into the boots so it wasn't too obvious. But she also had to tighten her belt as tight as it would go around her waist, and even then it was a little loose, and the cap kept falling over her eyes.

In their disguises, Finn led them through the Destroyer and to the control panel. Kess had to contain a laugh when BB-8, disguised under a container, purposely bumped into a storm trooper walking by.

Once they reached the panel, Kess and DJ set down to work breaking the code while Rose, Finn, and B-B kept watch.

D.J. opened the panel, working on the buttons while Kess managed the wires. He took Rose's medallion and inserted it into the panel, causing a spark.

"H-Haysian S-Sm-melt. Best conductor," he explained, handing the medallion back to Rose.

"Good time to figure out how to get back to the fleet?" Rose asked Finn.

"Yeah, I know where the nearest escape pods are."

" _BB-8 tell me something good_ ," came Poe's voice over the hand-held radio.

The droid passed the radio to Finn. "Poe, we're in. We're almost there. Have the Cruiser prepped for lightspeed."

 _"Yeah, I'm on it pal, you just hurry."_

"We're running out of time," Rose updated.

"How's it going?" Finn asked the two code-breakers.

"Almost there..."

"We're working as fast as we can...

 _"Finn! We're ready to make the jump!" cried Poe._

"Now or never!" hissed Finn.

"Now-" The control pad illuminated and blinked.

"You did it!" cried Rose.

"I can't believe it!" cried Kess in relief.

"Yes we did." D.J. smiled at Kess. "Nicely done."

"Thanks, you too."

"And here, have this back. I think your family would want you to have it." He handed back her amber necklace.

 _Stomp. Stomp. Stomp._

Clunky footsteps announced a new presence: a gang of storm troopers led by Captain Phasma.

"FN-2187, so good to have you back."

 _Happy Star Wars Day! :) Of course I had to update this story today! May the Force (and 4th) be with you!_

 _And they put 'The Rise of Skywalker' up on Disney+ which is very helpful for this story, so continuing right along!_

 _Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)_


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